From Bratwurst to Bollywood: St. Louis's New Immigrants

BALLWIN, Mo.—In suburban St. Louis, Pradeep Ramakrishnan watches Hindi movies at the mall and prays to Shiva at a Hindu temple near his home. He lives in Ballwin, a wealthy suburb in west St. Louis County, just over 20 miles from the Ferguson neighborhoods that have attracted national attention this summer. Unlike Ferguson and other predominantly black suburbs north of the city, Ballwin is one of the mostly white communities to the west. This is where a growing number of Indian families and other white-collar immigrants are settling as they find work in the region's emerging biotech and health care industries. They feel more welcome here than many African-Americans do.